The Mexican Gray Wolf is the rarest and most genetically distinct subspecies of gray wolf in North America. With the scientific name of Canis lupus spp. Baileyi, it is an endangered species who once inhabited mountainous areas, woodlands, and riparian habitats of the continent. Once common throughout these ecosystems of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico, by 1980, they were all but eliminated from their natural habitat largely from hunting, trapping, and poisoning. The Mexican Gray Wolf is the smallest of the gray wolves in North America, with only a few hundred individuals left in captivity and the wild.
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has a long history with saving the endangered Mexican Gray Wolf, which includes some of the earliest breeding and population management of Mexican wolves held in human care. The Museum is also known for its participation in public meetings and advocacy for wolf reintroduction into the wild, as well as providing education on wolves in the Sonoran Desert. This work done by non-profits like the Desert Museum as well as federal and state agencies began established conservation programs and awareness campaigns that brought these wolves back from the brink of extinction, and as of 2022, at least 241 wolves have returned to the wild in the Southwest!
As a leader in naturalistic zoological exhibits, the Desert Museum is launching a campaign to create a new Mexican Gray Wolf exhibit on its grounds. Although the current Desert Museum Mexican Gray Wolf exhibit is adequate, we believe it should be world-class. Expectations of animal exhibits and holding spaces continue to move toward a more holistic approach to animal wellness and well-being, which incorporates an emphasis on keeping animals physically and psychologically healthy. This focus on animal mind-body well-being has prompted the Desert Museum to initiate exciting plans for a groundbreaking new wolf exhibit!
The new exhibit will be nearly eight times the size of the current wolf habitat. It will incorporate elements of natural environment that can be staged to allow the animals to have more choice and control of their environment, providing them with new stimuli to keep them more engaged and encourage natural behaviors.
The plans, design, and construction for this exhibit are expected to come with a $5M price tag, and this is where we need your help!
Please join us in making the new Mexican Gray Wolf exhibit a reality at the Desert Museum. Your support makes this type of capital project possible, and greatly improves the lives of these magnificent animals in our care.
Donate now and select “New Wolf Exhibit” from the drop-down menu!
In December 2022, we welcomed three beautiful Mexican Gray Wolves from the Endangered Wolf Center in Missouri, to their home here at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. These gorgeous girls are also sisters – two are littermates, while the older one helped to raise the younger two. the Museum selected their names by popular vote from our social media audience, and announced their names as Estrella, Luna, and Sol. This bonded trio of sisters can be seen today in their current Mountain Woodland exhibit at the Museum, but their future habitat will be much more spacious!